WDTN-TV said the two reportedly went to a local restaurant where Christian Gabriel told Pamela Schmidt that he was sorry but that because he was on chemicals at the time he couldn't remember where Erica's body was.

The trip started when Gabriel appeared in Celina Municipal court on Thursday morning after serving time for unpaid fines related to an old domestic violence case.

Schmidt was at the hearing and asked the judge to release him, WDTN said.

"I recently heard that his son is very ill and it wouldn't serve any purpose to for him to be here another moment," Schmidt told the court.

But the station said the sympathy Schmidt showed in court didn't prepare anyone for what happened next, when Schmidt pulled up to the curb of the Mercer County Jail moments before Gabriel was to be released.

Among those surprised -- Erica's mother, Misty Baker.

"I was quite shocked when I seen it on TV, I was like, 'My God, what is he doing?'" she said.

Investigators believe Gabriel was driving a van full of friends that hit and killed Erica Baker in February 1999 near the Kettering Rec Center. Her body has never been found.

Gabriel served six years for abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Family members believe he knows where Erica's body is.

"She was trying to help me get Erica home and unfortunately, that's not going to happen," Misty Baker, said.